[VAC] Re: 1950 speed in a 2000 world

[Agrijeep@xxxxxxx]

Jim:
    
     I hear you loud and clear.  I drive an old 1947 Dodge Power Wagon on 
weekends, so I thoroughly understand SLOOOOOW and the ideal of retro time 
travel.

     In my younger, faster years when I left Denver at 5:00 a.m. in my speedy 
Mercedes 280 4.5 sedan for a day of downhill skiing at Vail 120 miles (one 
way) away, and quickly drove back at day's end without sufficient apres ski 
time, I'd often get caught in the crush of slow traffic crawling up the west 
side of the Continental Divide towards the Eisenhower Tunnel.  

    To turn down my clock speed to match the flow of traffic and keep myself 
from exploding, I'd push a cassette of Old Blue Eye's Greatest Hits in my 
radio.  Nothing relaxes my spirit and reduces my anxiety as well as Frank 
crooning his best torch songs.  I'd imagine (yes, just imagine) a tumbler of 
bourbon-on-the-rocks was within easy reach on the dash, and at "quarter past 
three" the imaginary sips would drop my pulse rate to that of the unhurried 
speedometer.  It was all a matter of attitude adjustment - adjusting my 
internal speed to the externally imposed limit of everyone else around me 
slipping and slide up the side of the mountain.   

    Now that I'm inching towards my September years, old farm tractors have 
replaced the fast cars of my youth, and the women have ........ well, let's 
just say the thick, broad curves of an old metal trailer have a newfound 
allure.  Jim, I'm sure I'll meet you someday on a forgotten Blue Highway in 
some remote corner of this great country of ours, and we'll stop, chat, and 
share a whisp of bourbon.   

Best regards,

Fred in Denver